“Maybe” Puffin Automata

Fellow Lumberjock, Wanda Sowry, automata maker extraordinaire, is the original designer for this piece. I came across her Puffin automata (pictured below) over a year ago and immediately put it on my “to do” list. Being new to the art of automata, building this was a bit challenging. I ended up putting a heavy washer on one of the lifts because it kept popping the head off the puffin, LOL. I also changed the mechanism on the right side due to difficulty getting the timing right. Troubles aside, the goal was to make a pair of Puffins that moved using a hand crank—Mission accomplished! I contacted Wanda before posting this to make sure it was okay with her. She was/is very gracious and even gave me a few pointers for building these nifty little machines.

Fox Chapel Publishing has a magazine called Gizmos and Gadgets http://www.foxchapelpublishing.com/product_p/sipgzm.htm with detailed plans for automatas including a cool ship by Wanda. I just finished another machine designed by Dug North (plans for that are in the magazine) so check out my projects page.